They are the defining images of the world in 2012, each one reflecting a single, fleeting moment of a year gone by.

Whether it is of the misery of a loved one killed by an enemy missile attack, the overwhelming joy at winning Olympic gold, or the intimate devotion of an elderly wife to her dying husband, each photograph provides a fascinating snapshot of life on Earth.

The winners of the World Press Photo Awards, one of
photojournalism's most prestigious contests, were announced today, issuing awards in nine
categories to 54 photographers of 32 nationalities.

The overall winner was Swedish photographer Paul Hansen for his picture of two Palestinian children killed in an Israeli missile strike being carried to their funeral.

WARNING: This story contains images that some readers may find distressing.

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First Place: Henson's picture shows a group of men marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City. The victims, a brother and sister, are wrapped in white cloth with only their faces showing

The photo shows a group of men
marching the dead bodies through a narrow street in Gaza City. The
victims, a brother and sister, are wrapped in white cloth with only
their faces showing.

'The
strength of the pictures lies in the way it contrasts the anger and
sorrow of the adults with the innocence of the children,' said jury
member Mayu Mohanna of Peru. 'It's a picture I will not forget.'

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Hansen’s November 20 shot won top prize in both the spot news single photograph category and the overall competition. It portrays two-year-old Suhaib Hijazi and her three-year-old brother Muhammad, who were killed when their house was destroyed by the Israeli attack. They are being carried by grieving uncles, as their father Fouad was also killed, and his body can be seen in the background of the picture.

The children’s mother, whose name was not provided, was in intensive care.

Torture: This image by Emin Ozmen, from Turkey, in July last year won second prize in the Spot News Single category. It shows Syrian opposition fighters torturing a suspected government informant in Aleppo

First Prize, Sports Action: This photo by Malaysian Wei Seng Chen shows a jockey, his feet stepped into a harness strapped to the bulls and clutching their tails, at the end of a dangerous run across rice fields during the Pacu Jawi (bull race) - a popular competition at the end of harvest season keenly contested between villages in Batu Sangkar, West Sumatra, Indonesia

First Prize, Nature Stories: Canadian Paul Nicklen took this for National Geographic magazine. It shows Emperor Penguins, tripling their swimming speed to 30kph by releasing millions of bubbles from their feathers. These bubbles reduce the friction between their feathers and the icy seawater, allowing them to accelerate in the water

Activist to action: Stefen Chow of Malaysia, of Smithsonian magazine, won the second prize in the People - Staged Portraits Single category with this picture of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, left. And Russian Sergei Ilnitsky, for European Pressphoto Agency, won second prize in the sports action category for this picture of Alaaeldin Abouelkassem of Egypt (top) in action against Peter Joppich of Germany during their Men's Foil Individual Round16 match at the London 2012 Olympic Games

'This prize is the highest honour you can get in the profession,' Hansen said. 'I’m very happy, but also very sad. The family lost two children and the mother is unconscious in a hospital.'

'These situations are so visually complex,' he added. 'It’s difficult to convey the emotions, to translate what is happening. The light is harsh and there are a lot of people.

'But in the alley the light bounced off the walls, so I thought this is a place where you can see that it’s a procession. ... You get the depth in the image, and the bouncing light.'

First Place, General News Single: This photo by Associated Press photographer Rodrigo Abd shows 'Aida' crying as she recovers from severe injuries after the Syrian Army shelled her house in Idlib north Syria. Aida's husband and and two children were killed after their home was shelled

First Prize, Contemporary Issues: This photo by American Micah Albert, for Redux Images, shows a woman taking a break from working as a trash picker in Nairobi, Kenya in April 2012

First Prize, Daily Life Stories: Taken by Italian Fausto Podavini, this picture shows a 71-year-old wife taking care of her Alzheimer's stricken husband in Rome, Italy

Second Prize, Daily Life: Taken by Soren Bidstrup, of Denmark, for Berlingske, shows a young family waking up early on a summer holiday camping trip in Jeselo, Italy

Violence in the Middle East, and its effect upon civilians, was the dominant theme in the hard news categories.

The Associated Press won eight awards in all, including top prizes for a spot news series for Bernat Armangue of Spain for photos he took in Gaza during November; and for Rodrigo Abd of Argentina for general news single photograph, with a picture of a woman with a bloodstained face weeping in Idib, Syria, on March 10.

She was identified as Aida, and her photo of silent grief is in some ways a reverse image of Hansen’s winning shot. She received severe injuries when her house was shelled by the Syrian Army, killing her husband and two children.

First Prize, Spot News Single: Palestinian schoolchildren walk between debris of a damaged school in Gaza City. The school was damaged when Israeli forces struck on a nearby building. This photo was one in a series of images by Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue

Third Prize People - Observed Portraits: Taken by Ananda van der Pluijm, Netherlands, this shows the photographer's brother Martin. She says: 'After living with his dad for ten years and staying in a youth shelter, my half-brother Martin (18) returned home to live with his mother again. He arrived with some clothes in a bag, no work or graduation. I'm following him during this period to get to know him again and record his developments

Second Prize, Observed Portrait Series: Spanish bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla performs during a bullfight in the southwestern Spanish town of Olivenza. It is one of a series of images by Associated Press photographer Daniel Ochoa de Olza

First Place, News Series: Smoke rises after an Israeli forces strike in Gaza City. This photo was one in a series of images by Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue

In other categories, Wei Seng Chen of Malaysia won in the sports singles category with a shot of what might be considered a local 'extreme sport': a man clutching the tails of two bulls as they pull him through a watery rice field in Batu Sangkar, Indonesia.

The competition also includes portrait series, scenes from everyday life, and nature photography, among others.

The contest drew entries from professional press photographers, photojournalists and documentary photographers across the world. In all, 103,481 images were submitted by 5,666 photographers from 124 countries.

First Prize, Spot News Series: This photo is one of a series by Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue shows a Palestinian man kissing the hand of a dead relative in the morgue of Shifa Hospital in Gaza City

Second Prize, Spot News: This picture by Italian photographer Fabio Bucciarelli a Free Syrian Army fighter taking up a position during clashes against government forces in the Sulemain Halabi district in October 2012, Aleppo, Syria

Third Prize, General News: This picture by Australian photographer Daniel Berehulak shows pine trees uprooted during Japan's tsunami in 2011 lay strewn over the beach

Spot News: This photo by Associated Press photographer Adel Hana shows Palestinian gunmen ride motorcycles as they drag the body of a man who was killed earlier as a suspected collaborator with Israel, in Gaza City

The photos were submitted anonymously to a panel of 19 jury members, chaired by AP Director of Photography Santiago Lyon, and judged in multiple rounds.

The winners were all 'stellar examples of first-rate photojournalism,' Lyon said.

Other judges came from Germany, Iraq, Peru, France, Sweden, China, Britain, Spain, Azerbaijan, South Africa, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the U.S.

Honourable mention: This photo by Associated Press photographer Altaf Qadrin shows underprivileged Indian children attend a free school run under a metro bridge in New Delhi, India

First Prize, Spot News: Palestinian woman is helped after being injured during an Israeli forces strike on a soccer field next to her house in Gaza City. This photo was one in a series of images by Associated Press photographer Bernat Armangue

Second Prize, Sprorts Action: This picture by Russian photographer Sergei Ilnitsky Nicolas Limbach of Germany (L) in action against Jingzhi Wang of China (R) during their Men's Sabre Team Placement 5-6 match for the London Games

Third Prize, Contemporary Singles: This photo by Associated Press photographer Emilio Morenatti shows Mireia Arnau, 39, reacting behind the broken glass of her shop stormed by demonstrators during clashes with the police at the general strike in Barcelona

Second Prize, Contemporary Issues: This photo by Associated Press photographer Esteban Felix shows the bodies of Lesbia Altamirano and Wilmer Orbera lying on the floor of a pool hall after being attacked by unidentified masked assailants in Choloma on the outskirts of San Pedro Sula, Honduras